The following rules and examples will help you know when and where to use the colon as a punctuation mark.

Use a colon to signal the reader that a series of words, phrases, or clauses
follows a complete sentence.

The baseball coach claimed that the team's success stemmed from four things: consistent hitting, solid pitching, good fielding, and excellent teamwork.

The Greasy Spoon restaurant had several house specialties: a hot turkey sandwich, a roast pork dinner, a walleye platter, and a barbecued chicken wing basket.

Use a colon to signal the reader that a second complete sentence
explains a closely related preceding sentence.

The supervisor's remark was straight to the point: I won't tolerate workers who show up late.

Religion and politics can be sensitive subjects: many people hold opinionated views and are easily offended by other peoples' remarks.

Use a colon to signal the reader that a name or description follows a
complete sentence when you want to put a lot of emphasis on that item.

The local anglers had a nickname for the large muskie that had cruised the lake's shoreline for years without being caught: Old Mossback.

The preoccupied burglar didn't notice who was standing right behind him: a smiling police officer.

Use a colon to introduce a long quotation after a complete sentence.

In his book, Language is Sermonic, rhetorician Richard Weaver described how language may influence us:

Sophistications of theory cannot obscure the truth that there are but three ways for language to affect us. It can move us toward what is good; it can move us toward what is evil; or it can, in hypothetical third place, fail to move us at all. (60)

Colons are also used...

...to separate titles and subtitles:

Richard Nixon: The Tarnished President

...to express time:

The accident occurred at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

...to cite a law or Biblical passage:

According to Minnesota statute 1:49:002, it is unlawful to feed licorice or peanut butter to goats.

...to end a salutation:

Dear Rachel:

...to separate the place of publication and the publisher in a bibliographic entry:

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